PFN lauds suspension of FRC governance code, calls for calm

THE Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has welcomed the decision by the the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to suspend the Corporate Governance Code issued by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), one of the parastatals under its supervisions, pending what it called “a detailed review, extensive consultation with stakeholders and reconstitution of the board of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.”

According to a statement signed by the National President of the PFN, Reverend (Dr) Felix I. Omobude, the PFN “had consistently expressed its concern at the non-inclusive process that brought about the code and the all-pervasive nature of it, especially as it relates to activities of the not-for-profit sector whose activities are already regulated by provisions of the law under which they were registered.”

The PFN maintained that in view of the inability on the part of the Financial Reporting Council to achieve the necessary buy-in from concerned stakeholders on the code of governance and address legitimate concerns raised by many, it was wrong for it to have proceeded to enforce its implementation.

According to the statement, which noted the concern among many with respect to portions of the suspended code interpreted by some to have limited the tenure of pastors and other spiritual leaders, the PFN expressed confidence “that all the contentious issues will be reviewed under the process ordered by the Government.”

The statement further read: “While the PFN respects the right of the appropriate government agency to make laws for the good of all, PFN states emphatically that she will not sleep on her right especially as it affects our freedom of worship.

“The PFN appeals for calm, restraint and understanding on the part of all Christians and for continued prayers for the year 2017 to be one of greater peace and prosperity for all Nigerians.”